Pulling the ladder up behind you is something that happens pretty often in human history.

That’s not to say it’s intrinsic to us or destined to happen. But “hurt people hurt people” is probably what causes that to manifest.

In certain circumstances I bet most if not all of us would do it, too. A full life raft will swamp and kill everyone aboard if one more person gets on, for example. If there’s a guy trying to force his way on, what should the people on the boat do?

There’s a fair amount of that misguided belief among some anti immigrant movements: “we’re full” or equivalent.

https://www.childstats.gov/AMERICASCHILDREN/tables/pop1.asp

70-something million children. Let’s make them eligible to vote, and let parents vote on their behalf if they’re too young. As another poster said, the parents who abuse that on “both sides” would more or less come out in the wash. The parents who took it seriously would probably adjust both their vote and their child’s vote to benefit the child.

(One interesting thing is that would mean citizen children of non-citizen immigrants would get to vote.)

Those poor people spending time only on HB for four years, never going anywhere else, never finding 4/8chan, never even finding reddit…

Is your question why a propaganda operation focused on disrupting or presidential elections would “go live” 18-ish months before the presidential election?

And are you asking if I have specific evidence that they’re trolls? Or that the governments I’ve listed have troll farms? Or that specifically HB is specifically rife with trolls from this governments’ farms? Because I definitely don’t have specific evidence. Just the historical evidence of (attempted) general interference from those countries in our previous elections.

I think HB and some of the other groups are mostly trolls or Russian, Chinese, Iranian, North Korean, or aligned operatives trying to gas up trolls or wannabe trolls.

There are definitely some well meaning Americans and others who get suckered into the bullshit tornado that is those sites. They are definitely worth saving if we can. But it’s hard. They ban and block anyone with a dissenting voice no matter how calmly presented.

If someone calls me insane, the response that proves them wrong is a reasonable, chill response at most. The actual sane thing to do is ignore them or make a joke about the claim.

Just like if someone calls me weird, the response that proves I’m not weird is to say, “hahaha, sure, whatever” or “so what?” The response that would prove their point is along the lines of, “I’m not weird, you’re weird” or “they’re not calling me weird, they’re calling my associate weird.”

I have it on pretty good authority that everyone who likes having sex with humans likes female boobs. And plump round asses. It’s some deeply ingrained evolutionary stuff.

Doesn’t mean a gay guy is gonna go straight because of some nice tits, but he can appreciate them erotically.

Yeah but we’d have to redo the Senate completely - definitely a Constitutional amendment - and expand the House (I think they can just add seats) to reduce or eliminate the power of land ownership on our government’s composition.

Or change the Senate to a House Of Lords kind of model. Still an amendment.

Which means the short term solution is all anti MAGA people have to band together and stick together until MAGA dies off. Then maybe the Republican Party can be reborn to be more like it was in the 70s (but hopefully with less bigotry). This rot started with Reagan, so we have to go back at least that far.

(This would also free up religious people to find the candidate and party whose policy goals match their most important beliefs instead of the other way around.)

I bought a squirrel proof bird feeder pole thing

https://jcswildlife.com/products/squirrel-stopper-deluxe-squirrel-proof-bird-feeder-pole-system-with-baffle

It works great, now I’m happy to watch the squirrels run around not eating my birds’ seed.

Only downside so far is some wasps built a nest inside and stung me. But they’re dead now.

Well ok but you’re pointing out the authoritarian avalanche in the Republican Party, not American politics writ large.

I think people like AOC and Max Frost (and heck, Tim Walz) show that it’s possible for there to be progress. We just have to want it. Also we have to learn to ignore trump and his ilk instead of giving them equal time.

I agree that they shouldn’t have to make excuses.

There are people out there who are persuadable but currently buy the Republican anti union bullshit, though. For better or worse, one way to crack through that wall is to point out the ways that unions and collective action like strikes leads to better outcomes for every worker (not only union members), and every worker’s child.

I’m aware there’s some pseudo science danger, but if the membership is informed and can vote their conscience individually, I’m sure they’d do better than not most every time. Obviously if there’s a pressure campaign or film flam man at the top lying or misleading it can all go to shit.

If a whole union votes to strike, it’s for a good reason and with a reasonable expectation from the whole union membership that the outcome of the strike is worth the interruption to everyone’s lives.

Given the Wisdom of Crowds is an actual thing that really works, it shouldn’t be surprising.

What should really be called into question is letting one CEO or a C-Suite or a Board of Directors make drastic decisions that will change the lives of thousands of people without any input from the greater community. Those people are only human.

What was the name that one media company had their board come up with that was so stupid?

Also I think you’d be hard pressed to find any credible biological scientist willing to define “life” let alone define when it “begins.” I’m sure there are scientists who will, but they’re probably not biologists, or they’re “scientists.”

Not all fertilizations create viable zygotes. Not all zygotes become viable blastocysts. Not all blastocysts successfully embed in the uterine wall. Not all embedded blastocysts develop into viable embryos. Not all embryos become viable fetuses.

So I’d take exception through all of that to say any of those are protectable “lives” in any meaningful sense.

Roe was a very imperfect solution to the problem of men wanting to control women’s bodies. The best decision would’ve been to say that any abortion a woman and her doctor agree on is legal.

A moral or ethical doctor’s willingness to perform an abortion is inversely proportional to the gestational age of the fetus. Medical boards are charged with only granting licenses to moral & ethical doctors.

I think RBG had it right that abortion should’ve been protected by equal protection instead of privacy.

https://time.com/5354490/ruth-bader-ginsburg-roe-v-wade/

I use it if it’s already in use, but if I’m starting a new design I try to avoid “Master” and I really try to avoid “Slave”

Xemu: Not Too Much Lead

https://youtu.be/MKTN2OiR2R8

You should go vote if for no other reason than to keep Sherrod Brown in his seat.

And honestly nobody knows what’s actually going to happen in this election. Ohio is “red” (god I hate that terminology) only by a few points. It’s flippable in the right circumstances. Like if people remember that MAGA wants to force 10 year old rape victims to have their attacker’s baby.

This is a numbers and momentum game. If you vote AND some of your fellow closeted Midwestern Democrats (or at least pro small-d democracy) vote and convince some people who want to have a chance to fix American democracy to vote for the Democratic nominee, Ohio could flip.

They all could. If there were justice in the world, all 50 states would be “blue” on November 5th because of who Trump is, what he’s done in the past, and what he’s telling us he’ll do in the future.

Vote!

Probably just get a military contractor to do it anyway

I think technically he could order someone with the legal authority to use lethal force to do that. So probably the NSA or CIA.

Is the implication here that adult women snuggle/wrestle with their friends? Outside of porn videos?